Week of Virtual Events to Showcase Local Startups, Substitute 2020 Startup Crawl
Each September, hundreds of people flock to downtown Fayetteville for one special night to celebrate local startups, craft beer, and music: the Northwest Arkansas Startup Crawl. But the pandemic has made this in-person event impossible. Rather than cancel this much-anticipated one-night celebration, Startup Junkie Foundation is instead introducing the first-ever NWA Startup Week.
The NWA Startup Week (Sept. 14-18) will feature five nights of virtual, televised events and local food and drink pairings that highlight startups, small businesses, restaurants and breweries throughout the region. Each night, local startups will be showcased on Fayetteville Public Television (FPTV) and YouTube in short video clips in which founders and their teams will tell the story of what it’s like to be an entrepreneur in Northwest Arkansas. These showcased clips will be followed by special programming and accompanied by local food and drink offerings for ticket holders that vary each night of the week-long event.
“Startup Crawl is all about bringing the Northwest Arkansas community together and rallying around all the incredible entrepreneurs that make our region special,” said Caleb Talley, Startup Junkie Foundation’s director of marketing and events. “The pandemic may prevent us from having a Startup Crawl, but it won’t keep us from celebrating entrepreneurs and small business owners, especially after so many have been hit so hard.”
A special televised event will follow each night’s lineup of startup videos. Tickets may be purchased for individual days for $20 each or for the entire week for $75. Ticket price includes the following featured food and drink. A ticket purchase is not required to view the televised or YouTube programming.
The Startup Week lineup includes:
Monday:
Special Event: Startup Week will kick off with the first-ever televised IdeaFame Pitch Competition. Entrepreneurs and innovators will pitch their idea in a 60-second clip to be voted on by a panel of judges and the viewing audience. The winner of the Judge’s Choice and the People’s choice will each receive $1,000 to turn their idea into a reality!
*Anyone interested in pitching an idea must submit a 60-second video pitch to caleb@startupjunkie.org by Sept. 1. The videos will air on FPTV and YouTube simultaneously on Monday night, and the audience will vote via text message during the Monday program.
Featured Food + Drink: Startup Junkie Foundation is partnering with local restaurants to host small and socially-distanced watch parties for Monday night’s programming. The Monday ticket price of $20 will include a $20 gift certificate to participating restaurants. Participating restaurants will be announced later this week.
Tuesday:
Special Event: Startup Week will premiere special, pre-recorded GameChangers: conversations with nationally recognized founders who will share stories of their entrepreneurial journey. The featured guests for Startup Week will be announced at a later date.
Featured Food + Drink: Startup Junkie Foundation is partnering with local breweries to host watch parties for Tuesday night’s programming. As with Monday night’s restaurants, anyone who purchases a $20 ticket to attend a Tuesday night watch party will receive a $20 gift card to the participating brewery of their choosing. Participating breweries will be announced later this week.
Wednesday:
Special Event: Following Wednesday’s lineup of startup videos, FPTV will premiere a special panel discussion highlighting female founders and entrepreneurs of color. Local entrepreneur panelists will discuss the challenges women and people of color face when trying to start their own business and how those barriers can be lowered to create a more equitable venture ecosystem.
Featured Food + Drink: It’s Wine Wednesday! Ticket holders will receive an expertly paired wine and cheese kit from Sweet Freedom Cheese with fresh bread from the Rockin’ Baker Academy. Pairings must be picked up from Fayetteville and Bentonville locations on the day of the event (time and location confirmed at time of ticket purchase). *Must be 21+ to purchase ticket.
Thursday:
Special Event: Startup Week will premiere special, pre-recorded GameChangers: conversations with nationally recognized founders who will share stories of their entrepreneurial journey. The featured guests for Startup Week will be announced at a later date.
Featured Food + Drink: For Thursday’s event, Startup Junkie Foundation is partnering with local breweries to deliver beer and cider to the homes of every ticket holder within their established delivery region. Ticket holders will have the opportunity to choose from a list of beers and ciders made available for delivery by participating breweries. Ticket holders will also receive Startup Week swag with their beer delivery, including a shirt and themed face mask.
Friday:
Special Event: Startup Week will conclude with a socially distanced outdoor concert at George’s Majestic Lounge. Attendees will have the opportunity to listen to live music while enjoying Fayetteville’s newly established Outdoor Refreshment Area outside of one of the city’s longest running businesses, George’s. This event will begin at 8 p.m. A ticket is required to attend, and space will be limited.
“This entire week of events has come together quickly and will continue to develop as we get closer,” said Talley. “We had to pivot from our largest annual event in a pretty short amount of time, which was a challenge. But we didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to showcase what makes this venture ecosystem so special. We hope the Northwest Arkansas community will join us and make it a week to remember.”
Tickets for each night of Startup Week include featured food and drinks and are $20 per evening or just $75 for the entire week. Tickets are not required to view any of the programming airing throughout Startup Week. Each event except the live concert will concurrently be televised on FPTV (channel 218 on Cox and channel 99 on AT&T U-verse) and streamed live on FPTV’s YouTube channel.
Broadcast times for each night of Startup Week will be announced later this week.
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